Balance
by catopiuh
Summary: He was the Yin to his Yang, the night to his day, and the dark to his light. It wasn't right if they were one without the other.


Disclaimer: I don't own Link, Dark Link, the Koiri Village, etc., of course.

Nor the Super Smash Brothers is refrenced in the end.

Just a little oneshot... Hahah, what amused me is that it unintentionally ended up being 1234 words right in a row.

* * *

For being such a spontaneous adventurer, when you knew him, Link was quite easy to track.

Whenever he wasn't off on an adventure to kingdoms near and far, the Hylian had a very planned schedule. The first and foremost place to look for him would be his hometown; the quaint, peaceful Kokiri village. You could probably find him seated on a stump, clothes matching the children around him. His hands would wave sporadically for emphasis as he told his story to the eager children, voice dropping eerily in all the right places.

If his stump was empty and the village lacking his song, the next ideal location was the famous Lon Lon Ranch. Quite a ride from the Kokiri Village, and practically in the middle of nowhere - smack dab in the middle of Hyrule Feild as it was - the little farm suited Link well. Happy to help you could see him trailing behind a redhead in song, towing buckets of milk, hording the animals, or simply petting the snout of his and her beloved horse. This time his history would fall silent on his lips, and you could see him smiling, content with just listening to the girl's simpler tales.

But when passed on from here and there, it took nights of travel to find him again. But when you did, you'd see him surrounded yet again in the friends and company he loves, helping again as he could. In Kakariko Village he could raise a cheerful hello to all, and all smiled at knowledge of his presence. Fixing windmills, building houses, hording lost chickens - he did it all without complaint... and with many a female admirer watching on.

Never did he linger in a single place for too long, scheduled as his tour was. His next stop arrived in the heart of Hyrule, Hyrule Castle Town. However, his manner here was different than in the previous environments. Rather than laughing with as many friends as possible - and this busy city was far from lacking the people - he headed straight past all of that. He would leave the rowdy confines of the city, until his boots echoed off the walls of the empty and silent temple.

It was there that you could find him today.

He would sit in the very center of the room, cross-legged. His eyes were placed upon the great sealed doors before him, wide with an almost childlike curiosity. Link's gaze never stayed focus for long though.

For all of his glorious talking of his adventures, of his feats and the triumph of good over evil, he never spoke of the darker side to his story. He never liked to even think of it; here in this temple, where it all started, was his only exception. So it was here that he sat somberly, and thought back to the worst days of his journey.

Link would think back to the days where he just thought he couldn't go on any longer.

The days where he truly began to believe good could not conquer evil.

In which a nagging growing ache just throbbed at him, and he was helpless to do anything about it.

It was here that Link thought about it, because it was here that he could feel it all again. With his gloved palm resting over his heart, Link breathed heavily out, and remembered.

With every swing of his sword, every victory that he held - for every sin that he beat down, his burden grew heavier. With every beast that fell - their shadows fell upon him. For every girl he saved, so much more had to fall beneath his blade.

The Sword of Evil's Bane was difficult to hold. For, while bodies can be beaten, souls cannot - and with the gates of heavens closed to them, wicked souls have no where to go.

The Master Sword was not just their slayer, but their tomb as well.

Link was a boy of pure soul, or so he had been informed by the ancient Sage, Rauru. His soul was untainted, it being chosen by the Goddess Farore herself to bare the Triforce of Courage. And so it was only reasonable for Link, so pure in heart, to be the perfect canidate for the weilder Master Sword. Someone already lacking so much darkness - would be able to hold much more that was thrust upon them. It would take far longer for the darkness to corrupt him.

But as his journeys grew longer, even Link's heart grew heavier and heavier. With each step he took, his mind felt coated, thickly with sleep - like a dark blanket.

It was on these days that the Hylian would just find himself thinking, '_What is the use?_' For there was none, really. There seemed to be so much evil, and so very little good; and evil seemed to be so much stronger. It seemed to always surround him, making his days dark, and stars dim. It was everywhere. It couldn't be escaped.

And then one day, just like that - Link found his light again. He reached the day, hidden just beneath the clouds.

The Hero beat the Fire Temple. And again, he felt like he was actually doing good for the world.

He continued happily, expression light, and ignoring the burden as it slowly began to form again. And just as it began to become bothersome again, the Goddesses looked out for him - and again, sent him his cure.

As his already wet boots trodded through the room full of nothing but fog, a mirror image stepped out from nowhere look at him in return. And upon mere sight of the boy - _himself_, yet not - Link felt his heart seem to grow light again.

When he beat him, he felt indescribably sad.

And his soul was weighed down once more.

Eventually, when his quest was over and done with, Link faced the boy again. He faced him not as an enemy now, but - a friend? He wasn't sure what it was, but no loner did he hold any hostility toward him. None that he would take actual action on, at the very least. How could he?

Whenever Dark walked in the room, Link could be happy again, and all his battles would melt away entirely. And Link could be nothing short of grateful for his cure, who was surely a gift sent from the Goddesses - albeit... in an odd package.

Link knelt in the Temple of Time, expression calm and peaceful despite his thoughts of darkness and evil. Sitting here again in the Gateway of Time itself nearly brought it all back. Memories of monsters he fought, evil he had slain flew over him, and at even their thoughts, he could feel the nagging at his heart again, tugging lightly, whispering, _confirming_ that _yes, I'm still here..._

Never once did Link's eyes open throughout all of this. Never did his hand falter from it's position warmly over his hurting heart.

For as adventerous as he was, Link was very easy to track, and his schedule always seemed to appropriately repeat itself. And surely enough, as it always did, the darkness soon dissapeared,

and Link knew Dark itself was nearby.


End file.
